Cabbies take passengers for a toll ride, make them pay more

BENGALURU: Heading to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in a taxi? Better confirm if the toll fee is included in your final bill. Else you might end up getting duped by the cab driver. An increasing number of passengers travelling to and from KIA are complaining about having been taken for a royal ride by cab drivers on the pretext of paying toll fee at the Sadahalli toll plaza. While the toll fee is Rs 85 for a single trip and Rs 130 for return, the con game is played in two ways: First, the cab driver insists that the passenger pay him the toll fee despite the same being included in the final bill. Second, the cab driver compels passengers to pay for the return trip, though it’s the latter’s onward journey. If passengers refuse to pay the toll fee, cab drivers threaten to take the alternative road, with a warning that they won’t be responsible if they fail to reach the airport on time. Taxi drivers attached to app-based cab aggregators Ola and Uber have drawn flak on social media for adopting such tactics. The other cabs plying to KIA are KSTDC, Mega and Meru cabs. "We cannot argue with the driver in the middle of a journey. Some even threaten to desert us halfway if we don’t pay for the return trip," said Muneer Sherief, a regular cab passenger. Some airport cab drivers say they won’t get passengers for the return trip and insist on payment of toll charges for both ways. In some cases, cab drivers take the alternative road and switch off the internet to avoid detection by the cab aggregator. "The driver took a detour to a small road and switched off his cell (phone) internet. That road avoids the toll plaza. Once connected to the main road, he switched on the internet. While he did not pay the toll charge, the amount was billed," said Ravi G, one such affected passenger. However, such deviations could put passengers at risk. Aggregators’ response When contacted, Uber did not respond. Ola in a statement said: "Ola’s app allocates the shortest route for any destination; this holds true for airport rides as well, which usually involve passing through the toll road. In such cases, toll charges are included in the bill. In case the non-toll route is taken, toll charges are not levied." ROYALLY FLEECED * Some cab drivers attached with app-based aggregators insist on taking the alternative road to the airport to avoid toll charges. They switch off internet on their cellphones or turn to the flight mode and take the alternative road to avoid paying toll. Toll charge, however, is deducted from the passenger. * Toll charges are not inclusive in airport taxis services such as KSTDC, Mega Cabs and Meru cabs. But some drivers of airport taxis demand toll charges for two-way trips (Rs 130) as against the one-way trip (Rs 85)